Back Again?
by que.t.3.14
Summary: A one shot related to my story "Promises"... Another fight between young Sasuke and Naoko has put them back in the hospital and Sasuke is again approached by the same nosy nurse who talks far too much. It's almost the same as every other time, only this time he really hurt her and he begins to wonder why that's all he can seem to do when it comes to Naoko... Rated T for: language.


Sasuke sat slouched in the chair next to the window, watching the nurses move around the room. There was a curtain between each of the beds, but otherwise the room was totally open and the quiet footsteps of nurses and occasional hushed voices were all that could be heard.

A familiar nurse walked by to check on the girl in the bed closest to the window where Sasuke sat. She smiled at him in a friendly knowing way. "Back again?"

Sasuke just shrugged. He'd never actually spoken to the women though she always talked to him. He tried not to talk at all actually, even after Naoko woke up. He didn't like being there, but he felt it was unfair of him not to be there seeing as he was always the one to put her there.

"She seems pretty banged up this time…" She said leaning over the girl before pulling back to scribble something on her clipboard. She glanced up at him with a cheeky smile, "But so do you. Have you had that looked at?" She asked gesturing to the cut and soon to be bruise on the right side of his face.

He squirmed slightly, the bruise was nothing compared to the burns Naoko had. He had been sure that she would doge and then he would have been able to kick her off balance and win the fight. Only she hadn't dodged completely and instead he ended up catching her. She had pretty bad burns on her forearms and a little on her cheeks. He could clearly see where her white hair was singed. He finally shook his head and the women seemed to smile.

"You know as a nurses we're supposed to be unbiased, on a battle field we treat both sides of the fight… it's our duty to see the people instead of the war they are involved in…" As she spoke she pulled out a drawer on the side table of Naoko's bed and took out a handful of little packets and instruments. She then took a chair from the other side of the curtain and moved to set the chair in front of him. Sasuke watched her and still didn't say anything until she sat down.

"We aren't at war." He said pointedly finally speaking to her for the first time.

She laughed a little, "You two sure act like it." She teased. "I've seen both of you in here more than any other academy student, and with far worse injuries than most. You two don't hold back…"

Sasuke frowned at that. He should have held back, using such a dangerous jutsu on Naoko wasn't right. The women reached out and took his chin in her hand moving his face so that she could examine the area and Sasuke flinched slightly.

"She got you pretty good." She said as she released his chin and opened a small disinfectant package and a q-tip to clean the cut.

"I got her worse." He wasn't sure whether that was a statement geared towards his triumph or his guilt.

"She'll clean up ok," she said with a small smile. "Those burns weren't bad enough to scar, at least not the one on her face."

He frowned further and flinched when she put the q-tip to his cheek bone. There was silence for a time as she cleaned up the cut and Sasuke tried his best not to move.

Finally he spoke again, his voice quiet. "She was supposed to dodge…"

She seemed surprised by him talking again, but her face quickly went back to a warm smile. "She was probably planning to."

Sasuke kept his frown, his jaw clenched shut.

"I hear this fight was outside of the Academy, and that you carried her most of the way."

Sasuke's black eyes glanced at her and then at Naoko's sleeping form before he nodded slightly. "She said I couldn't beat her in a real fight. So we sparred after school."

"No referee?" She asked.

He shook his head, "He didn't show and I called her a scaredy-cat when she said to just try another time."

She laughed a little at this and finally placed a bandage over the cut before pulling away and leaning back in her chair. "Accidents happen, the important thing is she's safe and so are you…" the young woman stood gracefully and gently kissed Sasuke on the forehead. "Next time, just be a little more careful, Uchiha-kun." She winked as she pulled away and Sasuke almost blushed as he watched her put the chair back in its place and leave before Sasuke could respond. What was it with this women and kisses?

He then heard a familiar voice drift through the room, "Is Ono Naoko in this room?" It was their ref; Shikamaru.

He shrank a little in the chair as the other young boy approached with his hands in his pocket and a lazy expression. "I figured you guys would be here when she didn't show up yelling at me for being a lazy bum…"

"She would have said ass not bum." Sasuke replied sourly.

Shikamaru smirked a little, "true. She woke up at all yet?" He asked next glancing over at her.

"No." Sasuke answered quietly. "The doc said she should sleep till tomorrow."

Shikamaru's eyebrows rose in question, "tomorrow?"

Sasuke nodded and decided telling him what happened wouldn't be the smartest idea. Shikamaru eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds. "I'll be back tomorrow then. See you then."

Sasuke nodded and watched him walk away. He stayed until visiting hours ended and went straight home, washing his face twice and rubbing his forehead as he lay in his bed. What a stupid woman. Comparing the way he and Naoko fought to war and her strange obsession with kissing. First she tells him he should try kissing her to wake her up, and this time she just kisses him. _Kisses don't fix things._ He thought as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Sasuke skipped the Academy the next day, spent the entire in the same chair silently watching Naoko. Soon enough Shikamaru and Choji arrived, a few bags of chips and candy in tow. Choji grabbed a chair from the other side of the room and Shikamaru just sat on the bed.

Sasuke squirmed uncomfortably and kept a sour look on his face while they chatted. He felt like he was intruding. He just wanted her to wake up already so he could leave.

A quiet voice interrupted his train of thought and Choji and Shikamaru's conversation. "You're so fucking lazy… get a chair and get the hell off my bed."

Sasuke smirked a little, and Shikamaru snorted. "I'm lazy? You've been asleep all day."

Naoko grunted and squirmed in her bed while Sasuke stood and walked to the end of her bed. He watched her sit up and wince as she did so. Her red eyes quickly caught his black ones though and it was a moment before she spoke.

"Guess I'm gonna have to up my game. Didn't know you had it in you Uchiha," she said with her voice still creaky and a blank expression. He knew from that sentence that they would never discuss the fight.

He smirked again, "I guess so."

He began to walk away again but stopped mid-step when he heard a laugh. He turned back and openly stared at what he saw.

Naoko was smiling. He'd never seen her smile. She was leaning forward, a bag of chips in her hand, laughing some, and thanking Choji before grinning at Shikamaru who smiled right back. The light from the window was bright on her messy white hair and reflected in her red eyes as her lips curled up and another lyrical laugh spilled from her lips.

What had they done to get her to smile like that? What had they said in so little time to make her laugh? Sasuke clenched his fists in frustration as he watched Shikamaru take the bag from her bandaged hands and opened it for her.

How was it that all he could manage to do with Naoko was start fights and Shikamaru could make her laugh without even trying? He spent just as much time with her, well maybe not quite as much… Naoko seemed to glance up in his direction and he disappeared before she saw him spying on her.

He stood out in hall for a moment, remembering the way she looked when she smiled and half wishing he had stayed long enough to see her just smiling in his direction. Then he could have pretended he caused it.


End file.
